Matcha Muffins

St. Patricks day is coming – which means GREEN FOOD. And although I am a huge fan of green beer (more for the festive vibes…still iffy on, um…drinking it?..) I tend to gravitate towards foods that are naturally green, and not, y’know…..supper effing dyed green.

So to get festive this holiday I wanted to make something that was:

• 1 – naturally green
• 2 – easy to make
• 3 – insanely delicious

And that is how the matcha muffin came to be! This recipe is so easy, uses ingredients that I’m 90% sure you already have and is perfect for any matcha-obsessed person out there. So matcha lovers – assemble! Because this is the BEST matcha muffin recipe you’ll ever have.

Also did I mention it can easily be made vegan and/or gluten free? Because green foods should be available to all. Friends. I gotchu.

Now these muffins are delightfully fluffy and incredibly delicious for a few reasons – but the biggest is the simple (but perfect!) balance of ingredients.

This is a small batch recipe, which means it will make about 6 muffins or 3 jumbo muffins, and believe me, these muffins won’t stick around for long! The only ingredient that might not be a standard pantry staple is the matcha. You’ll want to look for a ceremonial grade matcha for this recipe. You can find this at a lot of grocery stores, but I linked my favorite version from Amazon here.

And when I say nothing else fancy is needed – I mean it. You need the matcha, plus:

• 150 grams all-purpose flour – about 1 cup, loosely packed
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup melted butter (118g), or a vegan butter alternative, or coconut oil (90g)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup (150g)
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar, optional

And here are some subs if you’d like! This recipe is not super finicky, so you can definitely play around with ingredients based on what you have that is available to you. I’m all about making this muffin recipe affordable and accessible. So here are some options:

• No maples syrup? Sub in 1/2 cup of white sugar instead
• No all-purpose flour (or you’re GF)? Sub in 180g of oat flour (this will lead to a less structured muffin, but it’s still delish!)
• Vegan? Use 1/2 cup of plant milk instead of the egg (you won’t get the domed tops, but giiiirrrrrlll it will still be so FLUFFY)

The batter for this recipe will be thicker than your average boxed cake mix (but BETTER too, and that’s really all the matters y’know?) so I recommend using an ice cream scoop or a cookie baller to scoop the batter into the muffin liners.

Not only will this help keep the muffins even sizes, it will also make them more uniform and make the pouring process much simpler and cleaner for you! I call it my muffin-hack! (even though I feel like big-box bakeries have been doing it for years lolol)

And I always suggest muffin liners for these types of recipes. They cost less than a dollar and just make everything so much easier on you. Less clean up, less fuss, easier to transport your muffins! However if you don’t have any on hand, greasing each muffin tin with a bit or butter or oil spray will help immensely when removing them from the tin after baking.

The baking process will take about 20-25 minutes for these, and here’s a little tip to know when they are done:

Listen to your muffins.

You heard me right. I’ve reached that point and I am officially off the rails. Treat your muffins like your therapy patients, and when you first check them in the oven, listen for bubbling sounds. If you hear any, that means the batter is still wet and needs to cook for a bit longer. If you hear nothing – that means they are fully cooked and ready to be enjoyed!

You can also go the classic insert-toothpick-until-it-comes-out-clean method, but idk, I feel like listening for bubbles is so much more fun!

And I love sifting powdered sugar on top of everything just for something a little extra, but that part is totally up to you! No matter what, these muffins are ready to be enjoyed even straight out of the oven. You’ll get all that amazing matcha muffin flavor and tons of that fun green color, and people won’t be able to resist!

Let me know what you think in the comments – and happy baking!